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Monday, December 25, 2017

RIDING MY BUS OF DREAMS



If the wet grey skies are getting you down,
and the rain is trickling under your coat, down 
the back of your neck,
if there is too much Christmas to buy
and not enough dollars,
if some of your loved ones are far away,
and too many Christmases have passed,
with too many faces no longer around the table,
if love never arrived, at least not in the form 
you had expected it,
take a little time to Occupy the Blues.

Go ahead.
Feel it all and, if you're strong enough,
widen your vision to encompass
all of the unwanted,  abandoned animals
who will spend Christmas in the SPCA,
or the creatures who live their whole lives 
in cages, waiting to cross our tables,
or the wild ones displaced from their habitats,
then picked off when they "encroach"
on "Man's" Territory.

Are you depressed enough yet?

Just watch the news.
I know. I don't do it often,
and each time I do I remember why.
The humans may be even worse off
than the animals in so many places.
And for certain, the environment
is in complete distress.

But I'm riding my Bus of Dreams
down the grey, rain-drenched streets
through the worst part of town -
where the disenfranchised
eke out their bare existence.
They remind me I have so much
to be grateful for.

I see them carrying their small packages home
with gladness in their hearts
to make a small Christmas with their loved ones.
We all dream the same dreams.
We all love to give.

When my heart aches for humanity,
for this suffering and unbalanced planet,
for the 99%, for the melting at the Poles,

I remember that even in its distress,
Mother Earth continues to love us,
to provide for us, to sustain us.

She wakes up every morning,
beautiful.
She presents us with 
her best sunrises and sunsets,
her bluest skies, her fluffiest clouds,
her necessary rain.

When I see her resilience,
I roll up my sleeves
and get ready to
begin again.

I decide to Re-Occupy Hope.


I wrote this some years ago, in Port Alberni. Dragged it out to share, since 'tis the season of giving  and I am thinking of the homeless, the impoverished, those who want to give, but have no money with which to do so. My eyes lift often to the mountaintops powdered with the first snow. The planet and its animals are so beautiful. May we humans get it together soon, to nurture and restore in response to all we have been given.

12 comments:

  1. Indeed, may we get it together soon!

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  2. Moving from "Occupy the Blues" to "Re-Occupy Hope" is a thoughtful journey. Thank you. This is why we need poets.

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  3. Such a wonderfully heartfelt write, Sherry!❤️ It's truly the season that we are reminded that we have so much to be grateful for!

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  4. Goodness, I swear your spirit must've been sitting with my Piano Man and I last night. We spent quite a bit of time speaking of the horrors of people breeding puppies while perfectly lovely furry souls wait in shelters, speaking of the madness of people over-buying for the holidays while others are half-starved... It is depressing and infuriating and we need those feelings... in order to never forget.

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  5. What a wonderful message – despite the truths in the earlier verses. I particularly love that final line.

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  6. I think we need to hope... sometimes I actually look for good news and my spirit lifts...

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  7. reoccupy hope is beautiful... but there are so many obstacles to hope ... the sheer waste and wretchedness of human greed and hunger for power.

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  8. It's so relevant now. I feel the chill on the back of my neck and watch the news as an act of activism.

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  9. I like the way the poem begins with
    'rain {is} trickling under your coat, down
    the back of your neck'
    and'too much Christmas to buy
    and not enough dollars',
    very much blues territory,
    and then there's an upbeat ride on the Bus of
    Dreams and a glimmer of hope! Wonderful, Sherry!

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  10. Hope----our last straw for survival. You've said it so beautifully, Sherry.

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  11. When I see her resilience,
    I roll up my sleeves
    and get ready to
    begin again.

    I decide to Re-Occupy Hope.

    It is a belief to expect the unexpected to come our way to present solutions. There will always come a time to ponder and react positively.Great thoughts Sherry!

    Hank

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  12. Embrace the blues. Ride the dragon. Keep riding. A heartfelt message, especially important at this time of year!

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